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Texas Church Shooter Reportedly Obtained Gun through System Error

The Air Force did not submit records that would have barred the man who opened fire on a church in Texas from purchasing a gun.

The Air Force said this week that former airman Devin Patrick Kelley should have been prohibited from buying guns because of his criminal record.

Kelly was court-martialed in 2012 for assaulting his then-wife and stepson. He fractured his stepson’s skull. After conviction, he spent a year in confinement at a Naval facility.

Under federal law, that conviction should have barred him from legally owning a firearm, but that record was never entered into the proper federal database.

"Initial information indicates that Kelley's domestic violence offense was not entered into the National Criminal Information Center database by the Holloman Air Force Base Office of Special Investigations," said Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek in an email.

Kelley shot and killed 26 people over the weekend at a small church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. He had an assault-style rifle and two handguns.

According to federal officials, Kelley bought four guns in the last four years. Academy Sports & Outdoors, where Kelley bought some of his guns, says it ran a background check on him, but he passed.

"The Service will also conduct a comprehensive review of Air Force databases to ensure records in other cases have been reported correctly. The Air Force has also requested that the Department of Defense Inspector General review records and procedures across the Department of Defense," said Stefanek.

This is the second church shooter who was able to buy guns despite being prohibited by law. The Charleston shooter’s application for a firearm was delayed because of an arrest for a felony drug charge, but because the National Instant Criminal Background Check System Examiner could not confirm the conviction, his application was approved.